“Porto Romano in Durres, Dry Port in Prishtina, railway in the middle”.

This greeting of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, during the meeting of the two governments, on Monday in Pristina, is perhaps the shortest practical description of the Albania-Kosovo integrated port project.

This was the main agreement signed by the two governments on Monday.

But, after the cabinets received the right information, from the company that drafted the project. “By 2050 there could be potential for up to 100,000 containers to be handled at the Dry Port,” said Eric Smit, of Royal HaskoningDHV.

With a distance of about 260 kilometers, the port without water in Pristina is expected to relieve stress from the seaport of Porto Romano in Durres.

The two respective ministers are enthusiastic about the project, as it changes the economic game in the region.

“This railway from the Drini valley, has a lighter slope and reaches a higher speed of circulation and will be suitable for the port of Bar, reaches faster in Sofia, Skopje and therefore all these goods pass through Shkodra, in Pristina and then dispersed, this creates a very good opportunity for Kosovo to develop economically. All those goods must come to be systematized all those goods must be distributed, by land transport others continue with containers, the important thing is that it is also the nearby airport, which must be accompanied by a freight terminal, which makes the multimodal combination of transport by sea, air and land” said Liburn Aliu, Minister of Infrastructure of Kosovo.

“Our project is welcomed by the government of Kosovo. We will detail it further as this project of a dry port is in an initial stage but that would give Kosovo a special importance in the region as it would not only process the goods that would come to the port of Durres destined for Kosovo. but also quantities of goods, which would be destined for other countries in the western region of the Balkans but also for the future, such as Hungary or Austria” said Belinda Balluku,Minister of Economy of Albania.

The governments also expressed seriousness about the railway connecting the ports, saying that the design of the project will start. But until that’s done, the Dutch company said Porto Romano and Dry Port could also be connected via road transport, which is already ready.